magictreehouse | Entries tagged with 2009

January – Spend New Year in Crewe and went to Chester Zoo which was brilliant but bloody freezing. Introduce my Grandma to James for the first time. Picked over the remains of Woolworths (RIP). Lucy comes to visit. My sister goes to hospital with chest pains. She’s fine. Apparently a lot of teenage girls get it. Hmm. That stuff aside, January is a bit of a killer mostly because work was terrible. I couldn’t wait to get to the end when I visited Iceland.

February – Had the most amazing time in Iceland. It’s just a stunning country, even under all the snow. I saw the Northern Lights, visited Pingvillar National Park, saw the Gullfoss waterfalls, saw the original Geyser, and many other things. They have some damn tasty snacks. Their chocolate is great as are pastry products. Not the dried fish though. Ugh. Ended the holiday by bathing in an outdoor geothermal pool. One of the most amazing things ever, my skin felt wonderful for weeks after and I still daydream about the place even now. I should probably move there. I bet I could buy a house for a bag of chips.

In other more boring news I went for a job interview at Keighley library. I didn’t get the job but it’s the first of many I’ll go for. Start to look for flats in Leeds and then secure one.

March - Went to see Lenny Henry in Northern Broadside’s Othello and West Side Story. Moved to Leeds, a great decision even if we did get stung by our cunty landlords and suffered stupid deliveries.

April – Uni starts to come to a climax and the fear sets in. Saw The Tempest which was disappointing despite it being performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. My line manager leaves her job leaving me as the sole Quality person in the College. Go back to Crewe for a bit and visit my old colleagues at the library. Bought some amazing knitted peas from a stall on Brewery Wharf. Ordered my Girls Aloud singles box set. Frivolous yes, but I never got to have a proper pop phase when I was growing up.

May – My 25^th birthday. I spend it in Tropical World, walking round Roundhay Park and having tea in Little Tokyo, my favourite restaurant. (up to 10^th). Visited James’ grandma and family for his birthday. It was ok although james didn’t have a good time :s Have to deal with an OfSTED visit at work on my own. Went to see Ross Noble in York who is hilarious as usual. Go to see Saint Etienne in Sheffield who perform the whole of Foxbase Alpha and some other hits. Went to a BBQ at Rich and Greg’s but had to come home early as it was Eurovision night! Went to London for the weekend and saw Hairspray, had an explore around Greenwich, took a boat down the Thames and went to see Girls Aloud at the O2. Saw An Inspector Calls at Leeds Grand. It’s the most awful play I’ve ever scene and we nearly walked out.

June – Went to see Bedroom Farce which turns out to be the best play I’ve seen. Finally got round to having a house warming party with lots of board games and then a night out at Baja and introduce the world to my ‘Single Ladies’ routine. My Mum and sister come to visit and we take them to Harewood House where we watched a bee-hive demonstration.

July – Go to the Thackery Museum in Leeds. On getting to the section entitled ‘pus’ I promptly pass out. This was the worst thing that happened this year as, as a consequence, I suffered numerous panic attacks and anxiety related problems for as long as six months afterwards. It’s just shit. July’s a rough month. My Girls Aloud box set arrives! Went to see The Saturdays in Manchester. Went to Party in the Park in Leeds. Highlights are Dizzee Rascal, Little Boots and Frankmusik.

August – Went to Leeds Gay Pride. Had an interview at Halifax Central Library, another job I don’t get. Visit my family in Crewe and go to the Blue Planet, and have ice cream at Snugbury’s!

September – Come back from our holiday in Mayrhofen in Austria. Wonderful Alpine country with glorious weather. We did loads and saw a lot – waterfalls, farms, mountains, glaciers, cities. Really good fun. And beautiful, everywhere was covered in flowers. Some great experiences. Write my dissertation. It makes me want to cry and I resent writing every single word. When I finish it James takes me to Little Tokyo to celebrate.

October – Saw Dial M For Murder at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Went for an interview at Leeds College Of Art, I don’t get that one either. Jonathan comes to visit and we revel in computer gamer-y at the Expo exhibit in Leeds. Had a lovely day in York too. Went to see Alesha Dixon in Manchester.

November – Went to see Alphabeat in Leeds. Went to see Frankmusik and then VV Brown as well. Two years worth of studying leads to me getting a merit for my MSc making me a proper Master of Science and a master of libraries. Not that I work in one…Go to London to see John Barrowman not perform in Les Cages Aux Folles (boo), and Blood Brothers. Meet Melanie C who is lovely.

December – Interrupt a game of strip gay Wii bowling when we go to Rich and Greg’s flat. Several icy weather causes me to fall on my arse a number of times. Inspires me to buy three pairs of trainers in the Xmas sales though – more than I’ve ever owned! Went to see The Pet Shop Boys At the MEN. Spend our first Xmas alone and cook a lovely dinner. Visit James’ family for more food and then my family for New Year.

So on paper it looks like I've had a pretty good year and I have. It was just marred by an over bearer anxiety, but let's forget about that because wirting it all down has made me feel that 2009 was full of a lot of highs for me and that's the main thing. And there's been some great music and films released this year which have bucked the mainstream in a way.

Music-wise I've made a list of my favourite albums but to be honest, the to p could seriously go in any order as there have been loads of excellent albums I've had the chance to listen to and yet there has not been one absolute stunner. Not that this matters when things are as good as this. Still, there were a few reliable groups that really let me down, mostly electro ones. Client, Fischerspooner and IAMX produced albums I wasn't fussed by and I thought they were a sure bet. Cheryl Cole's was beyond disappointing as well and La Roux's effort and Florence and the Machine's could both have been better.

Top albums of 2009:
1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
2. Little Boots - Hands
3. Annie - Don't Stop
4. Lady Gaga - The Fame/Fame Monster
5. Venus Hum - Mechanics and Mathematics
6. Frankmusik - Complete Me
7. VV Brown - Travelling Like The Light
8. Dragonette - Fixin To Thrill
9. Peaches - I Feel Cream
10. Dan Black - Un
11. Pet Shop Boys - Yes
12. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
13. The Noisettes - Wild Young Hearts
14. Charlotte Hatherley - New Worlds
15. La Roux - La Roux
16. Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe
17. Florence and the Machine - Lungs
18. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

My soundtrack to 2009 (in no order):

Shakira - She Wolf
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero
Depeche Mode - Wrong
Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
Lady Gaga - Just Dance
Bat For Lashes - Daniel
Lily Allen - The Fear
Peaches - Lose You
Frankmusik - 3 Little Words
VV Brown - Shark In The Water
Alphabeat - The Spell
Charlotte Hatherley - White
Pet Shop Boys - Love Etc.
Natalie Imbruglia - Want
La Roux - Bulletproof
Noisettes - Don't Upset The Rhythm
Venus Hum - Mechanics and Mathematics
Mini Viva - Left My Heart In Tokyo
Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway
Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers
Annie - Anthonio
Little Boots - Remedy

I'm not going to do a retrospective of the 00s because every time I think about them all I think of is how bad it all was. Terrorism, the economy, the music industry going down the pan etc. Hell even something that seems to be quite good like the internet falls apart on closer inspection. It's addictive but a lot of it's superfulous and trivial. For every 2.0 application that brings people together there are plenty more that concentrate on individualism and self-promotion. You only have to look what it's done to the music industry. I can't help but feel that people have lost the appreciation of music as an art form. The internet has its plus points though, I'd just like to see the next year or so move away from depending on it, and that goes for me too. Anyway, it's hard to be optimistic about the 2010s when the Tories are likely to get in in May. Boo.

1.What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?: Went to Iceland, saw the Northern Lights, bathed in a geothermal spa, saw the original Geyser, move to Leeds, went on a boat down the Thames, wore a bee-keepers helmet, pass out in a museum, have panic attacks, write a dissertation, become a Master of Science, visit Innsbruck and Salzberg, eat proper wienerschnizel and wild boar, see snow in August, take a cable car (or rather three) up to a height of 3200m, go to a computer game exhibit, met a Spice Girl, cooked my own Xmas dinner. That’s a fair amount!

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?: I don’t make them although this year I vowed to not become so encompassed by work. I succeeded I’m glad to say and my LJ was filled with less boring work witterings than normal. The only thing I definitely want to achieve this year is getting a library job. I have faith it’ll happen, I know that patience is the key and I’ve only just got my full qualification after all. I’ve certainly gone about it the long way round though.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?: No

4. Did anyone close to you die?: No.

5. What countries did you visit?: Iceland and Austria. I’ve been spoilt for holidays this year and I’ve been very lucky to visit two beautiful countries.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?: A library job and my full health back.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?: This question’s always a load a rubbish. There aren’t many dates I remember! Moving to Leeds was a big thing though.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?: Moving to Leeds, getting my MSc, travelling a bit.

9. What was your biggest failure?: My health without a doubt.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?: Yes! Panic attacks and anxiety related disorders for six months of the year was just not very good. I didn’t think it was anxiety related as that just seemed so stupid. But I’m accepted it now. I’m a very rational person so to have this completely irrational thing completely threw me. It just doesn’t make sense but I’ve battled it irrationally and won for now thankfully!

11. What was the best thing you bought?: My Xbox 360 felt like a frivolous buy to me but it’s given me endless fun. Sad I know.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?: James as usual.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? The human race. This is the first year that I’ve ever thought, ‘right human race, you’re fucked and you deserve everything you get’. It wasn’t even the failure in Copenhagen to come to an agreement about what should be done about climate change although that helped. The thing that broke me was people rushing to buy old light bulbs in order to stock pile them. I thought that if people don’t even want to make tiny sacrifices like that (and it’s not really one at all) then they deserve to drown in the rising seas. Gah!

As well as that right-wing groups made me very angry. And scared.

14. Where did most of your money go?: Well rent I suppose, and holidays! And CDs as usual.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?: Going on holiday to wonderful places. Getting my MSc results. Seeing some wonderful gigs. I was very excited about Girls Aloud, Alphabeat and Saint Etienne especially.

16. What songs will always remind you of 2009? It’s been the year of Lady Gaga hasn’t it, so ‘Poker Face’. Quite a few songs will remind me of the year as it’s been quite a good year for varied pop music. Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ too, and Shakira’s ‘She-Wolf’. Awooooo!

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier, illness not withstanding.
b) Richer or poorer? Richer.
c) fatter or thinner? The same, and I’m fine with that.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?: Read.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?: Watching TV although what I watch is always planned. Panicking.

20. How did you spend Christmas?: I spent it with James at home.

21. What was your favourite TV programme? QI, The Big Bang Theory, The Thick Of It, Cranford, Life and Life In Cold Blood, was Reaper this year? There’s probably more than that.

22. Did you fall in love in 2009?: I was already there but I continued to be very much in love all year.

23. How many one night stands?: None.

24. What was your greatest musical discovery?: Frankmusik, VV Brown, Dan Black and Little Boots are all very good.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?: Nope.

26. What was the best book you read?: Three spring to mind - Kate Atkinson’s ‘When Will There Be Good News?, Armistead Maupin’s ‘Michael Tolliver Lives’ and Markus Zusak’s ‘The Book Thief’.

27. What was your favourite film of this year? There were a few. ‘Up’ was amazing. I loved every minute. ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was great as was ‘Star Trek’. Also a mention for ‘The Hurt Locker’. War films are really for me but this was just stunning. There was also ‘District 9’ which was great and ‘The Hangover’ was surprisingly good as was ‘Julie and Julia’. That’s not answered the question has it?! The point is that there have been some great films released this year and none of the ones mentioned were superhero films which makes a nice change.

28. What did you want and get?: A bona fide library qualification.

29. What did you want and not get?: A new job.

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009: This year I totally rocked the Sheldon-from-The-Big-Bang-Theory look.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?: I was 25 and I went to Tropical World and had a meal in Little Tokyo.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?: A new job. Not passing out in a medical museum.

33. What political issue stirred you the most?: Not sure really. I wasn’t especially riled by the MPs expenses scandal at I found it sadly quite typical. The general thing I’ve fretted about is the Tories getting in. 2010 could start the decade off very badly.

34. What kept you sane?: James, music, computer games. Note how I haven’t listed my dissertation because that did the opposite.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?: I’m getting worse with age. I didn’t used to fancy celebs at all but I feel like there’s a growing list! Jake Gyllenhaal is still my favourite of course. 2010 promises Prince of Persia and multiple orgasms. Others I can think of are very of ‘my type’. The one that breaks the mould is Zac Efron who I’d do unspeakably filthy things to. Well, unless Lucy and Jaqui got to him first I suppose.

36. Who did you miss?: No-one really.

37. Who was the best new person you met?: I can’t think of anyone new I’ve met this year!

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009: Don’t ever take your health for granted.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: I can never do this. How about – Shakira – ‘I’m start to feel just a little abused like a coffee machine in your office’? Amazing.

The Secret Life of Andrew

Entries tagged with 2009

My 2009

2009 quiz

Profile

March 2014

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags